Last Ones
by A little Something Different
Summary: There was supposed to be no one left, well no humans left after Nevermore. But this is the story of a surviving human and what tries to do to live. Max was supposed to save the world. Now Natalia has to try to live in the world that was never saved. OC
1. Chapter 1

It all started with Seattle.

Seattle, during the time, was beautiful, glamorous, and big; everyone wanted to be there. I was just fifteen at the time. Seattle was where I wanted to be. Well, where everyone wanted to be.

It also happens to be just where we're going.

"Mom! Are you ready yet?! We need to be there by 4! It's over an hour away and it's already 2:15!" I roll my eyes at my older sisters OCD-ness.

"Hey Jenni, you wanna stop being the mother and just shut up? You also know we are getting Nat's braces off before, right?" I snort and continue looking at my book, while Terran rolls her eyes. She may be younger than me- by a year-, but she is always the one to stand up to everyone. Everyone has that sibling that just doesn't know when to stop talking. That just so happens to be my little sister Terran.

"Yes, I just had to go to the bathroom. Nat, do you have your shades?" I nod without looking up from my glorious book. Hey, there is nothing wrong with the _Mortal Instruments_ series. I wish I had love in my young teenage life. Sigh.

"NATALIA! Are you even listening to me?" Jenn says. I grin, feeling my red, teal, and white colored braces.

"Nope, it's called ignoring the irritating one." I close my book and set it down onto the counter. I stand up from where I was sitting on my stool and stretch. My white V-neck comes up and shows a little of my stomach, l pull it down a little.

"Can we go now? You know, before Jennifer has a brain aneurism?" I grab my black back pack from off the floor. I zip up my new leather black-heeled boots.

"Not funny Natalia. Now, let's go." I roll my eyes for the ump-teenth time today. We all get settled in my mom's black Camaro. I sit in the back with Jenn, while Terran sits up front. Ever since that damn back surgery she had, she always has to sit up front. It's been over 3 months. She even went to a fucking carnival. But whatever.

I look in the rear-view mirror at myself. My dark brown hair is curled and I have dark makeup on my hazel eyes. My eyes are large and I have long eyelashes. But, my nose is slightly larger than some peoples. Though I'm still pretty! Eye roll.

After we get my braces taken off, we finally head to Seattle. I can't stop smiling though. I mean, we are going to the city where I want to spend my future. Plus, my teeth are straight.

We checked into our hotel and then we left to go see Justin Timberlake. I love him. He is attractive, smart, funny, and he is a good singer.

Anyways, so we went to go see him. While watching him… it happened.

It started with Justin falling off the stage. Everyone started screaming. Then the air started to turn green. Terran was going ballistic and Jenn's skin started to rot. She started screaming before she fell to the floor. I knew she was dead, I didn't want to leave her, but we had to. We were all running when the freaks barged in.

They were part dog part man. At least 25 of them started attacking. We got out. While we were running though, one came out of nowhere and bit Terran, then mom. They started going rapid.

"Mom…" I cried. I started to back away. Foam was coming out of her and Terran's mouths. I didn't know what was happening. I looked around while the tears came down. People were running around screaming, while others' skin was starting to rot and they would fall down dead. The ones that were bitten were attacking people. I cried harder, not knowing what to do. I heard a growl and a roar.

I ripped my gaze away to look at my rapid family. "Terran…" she was hunched over and her eyes were wild. My whole body felt cold as they started to move toward me. I backed away until I kicked something.

I quickly looked down to see a piece of a broken pole. I grabbed it, ignoring its coldness. I quickly swung it as hard as I could at Terran. She went down flailing, and I hit it with it a couple of times, ignoring the blood spattering everywhere.

Right as I looked back up, my mom attacked. I feel to the ground _hard. _I grunted and reached for the pole as she was snapping at me with her teeth and trying to scratch me. I blocked her hit, her weight over-powering me. My hands felt something cold and I gripped it and swung. The crunch of my mother's skull caused her to fall from me and start screaming.

I started crying at I hit her as hard as I could. "I'm so sorry." I whispered, hitting her one last time before she stopped moving.

"Oh no, what have I done?" I started getting nervous as I looked at my mother's dead body. My stomach a ball in it that wouldn't go away. I dropped the pole and ran. I run to the hotel.

People were screaming and running past me, not even recognizing that a young girl was getting shoved and pushed. I ran/shove past all of them and to the elevator. I press the button, right as the lights when out. Everything just escaladed after that. People kept screaming and I even heard one person yell, "_The world's power went out, we're all gonna die!_", but then he was trampled.

What am I going to do? Shit! I run to the stairs, ignoring the sign that states it's only to be used as a fire exit. I push the door open with a grunt and run up the stairs. The tapping of my boots on the floor is the only noise, well other than my breathing.

I get to the first floor and look down the hall. We're on the third floor. Wonderful. I'm about to go back to the stairs when I see something. There is a child wandering, crying. She has blonde hair and green eyes. I can't help but let my motherly instincts kick in.

My legs take me to her. "Are you alright?" I ask kneeling to her level. She looks at me and shakes her head. "Well, can you at least tell me where your mom and dad are?" she points down the hall at two dead bodies. My blood runs cold. She is all alone. Just like me. "You're gonna come with me, is that alright?" she smiles and nods. I grab her and put her on my hip.

I run down the hall to her parents and try not to puke at the disgusting smell. I quickly put her down. I use my sleeve and dig through the pocket of the smelly man. I find a wallet and put it in my pocket. After doing the same for the women, I grab the girl again and run back to the stairs.

"Where's your room?" we head up the stairs and I ignore all of the screaming outside the hotel.

"Second floor." She says in a young voice. I smile and nod. We get to the second floor, there are dead bodies everywhere. She starts crying and I hush her. Poor girl.

"Close your eyes," she does, "now, can you tell me which room is yours?" she nods.

"234." I nod and smile. I run as fast as I can down the hall. 231, no. 233, no. I look to the right. 234, yes. I press down on the knob. Nothing, it's locked. Dammit!

"Do you have a key?" she shakes her head. Fuck. "Okay, I'm going to put you down, but you need to keep your eyes closed, got it?" she nods. I put her down and look for something to beat down the door with. Oh wait! I take a deep breath and _kick_ the door open. I grab her again and walk in. there's no one. I close the door, well kind of close it.

"Open your eyes, we're not in the hall anymore." She does and smiles at me. I grin.

"We're gonna go get your stuff." I tell her. I put her on the floor.

"Okay, my rooms right there." She wraps her little fingers around my hand and pulls me to a room. There is a regular twin bed and the walls are white, just like my room. But there is a small back pack on the floor. I grab it.

"Does this have all your stuff in it?" She looks at me.

"Yeah. Mom and dad told me to not bring a lot." I nod and give her a sad smile. I hold her hand and we leave the room.

After we get to the third floor I sigh. My room is 313. I get to the door and pull out the key card. After I put it in I pull the girl in and slam the door closed and lock it.

She sits and couch and I go to the fridge and open it. Everything is warm. Damn, no power. I grab a water. "Hey, can you go look for some matches?" she nods and go looking. I sigh and take a huge gulp of water.

I hang my head low, and try not to cry. I just killed my mom and little sister.

Why is this happening?

"I found some." She yells. I smile and walk to where her voice is. I grab the matches from her hand and smile. "And I found some candles." She points to the candles by the bed. I nod.

I look down at her after I've lit the 13 candles. Her hair is just past her shoulders. It's blonde and straight. Her green eyes sparkle. I sigh. "I'm Natalia." I put my hand out for her to shake. She smiles and takes it.

"My name is Taylor, and I'm seven years old." I laugh. She smiles and starts giggling.

"Well Taylor, I'm very glad I got to meet you. I'm fifteen by the way." She starts to giggle harder. I grin. "Are you hungry, thirsty?" she stops and looks at me.

"Yeah, the only thing I had today was cereal and a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Good thing you have me, I'm a great cook." It's also good I know how to cook without the stove. Thank you camping!

We go into the kitchen with a candle. After we eat I tell her to put her pj's on. While she does, I take out my bag and grab my black sweat pants and a blue tank. I put my hair up and sigh.

Taylor comes out of the bathroom in pink sweatpants and a blue long sleeve shirt. I smile.

"Let's go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." She nods and yawns. She crawls into bed after me and sits up with the covers over her.

"Natalia?" I look up from where I am putting my stuff back.

"Yes honey?"

"What's happening? Why are my mommy and daddy dead?" I sigh, this is just great.

"I don't know. But my mom and sisters are gone too. But I am not going to leave you. no matter what. Okay?" she smiles and nods.

I slide into bed beside her. I blow out all of the candles. Taylor cuddles up to me. I smile and wrap my arms around her. She's my baby now.

"Good night Natty." I smile and kiss her head.

"Good night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I know the first chappie was a little choppy, but it will get better!**

_Screaming._

_Nothing but screaming. I soon recognize it as my own. _

_Blood comes dripping down my hands as I fall to my knees. No, no! How could I have let this happen? _

_I look at Taylors little body in front of me. Her little throat is now pale and has large amounts of blood coming out of it. Her face and arms are scratched. The white shirt she was wearing is drenched in her own blood. Her skin on her torso is already rotting. _

_I feel the hot tears come down my dirty face as I pull her little body into my arms. A cracking noise causes me to look down at her head. _

_Her eyes shoot open and she grins at me through her blood. "You should have saved me." she whispers before clawing at her own face while laughing. _

I sit upright in bed, breathing hard and sweaty. I feel a body next to me move. Taylor. I look at her to see her sleeping. I sigh and close my eyes. Thank god.

That's when everything comes back.

"Fuck…" I silently curse, remembering our situation. I slide out of bed and look down at my watch. It's only 8:21. I sigh and grab my back pack. I open it and take out my white skinny jeans. Then I grab my blue V-neck. I slide it on over my tank and put on my jeans after I've taken off my sweats.

It already sunny outside when I go out into the living room. It's summer. I pull back the curtains. Soon, I realize that, that was a bad idea.

The streets are covered with dead bodies. All the cars are just sitting there, with dead bodies melting in the heat or being pecked at by birds. My stomach immediately feels queasy. I put them back a swallow my vomit.

I walk around the hotel suite a little until I find the room Terran was sleeping in. Tears don't come, surprisingly. I kind of wished they would. I walk over to her bag and go through it. If she was still here she would bitch me out for doing this.

I grab her iPod. I turn it on, and I grin as it turns on. Full battery. Halle- fuckin- lujah. At least there is something to be happy about.

I turn it off and continue going through her stuff. Jeans, yes. I grab those. Tanks, definitely. I grab those. Socks. Fuck yes! I grab her jacket and leave the room with the stuff in my arms.

Next is Jenn's room. I grab her jacket and some long sleeve shirts. Lastly is my mom's room. Now I really hope I cry. Still don't. I roll my eyes at myself.

I steal her back pack because it's the largest. I also steal her jacket, socks, shoes, hair brush, razor, deodorant, and perfume. As I'm leaving, I notice a picture of all of us on her wallet. I steal the wallet and walk back to my room.

I dump all of the stuff into the largest bag with still some room. I grin. Going into the kitchen, I grab water, chips, granola bars, and dry cereal. I put it all in the bag and go into the bathroom. I take the soap and toilet paper.

Okay, now I just have to wake Taylor up and then we have to get the hell outta here. I silently walk up to the bed and shake her gently.

Her bright green eyes open slowly. I smile and lean down.

"Come on Taylor, it's time to get up. We have to leave soon." She nods and gets up with a yawn. I look down at my watch. 8:53. She goes into the bathroom with her bag and I go back to Terran's room. I grab her make-up and head to her bathroom. I put on sliver eye shadow and black eye liner with pink lipstick. I smile at myself; a little proud my hair is still curly.

"Natty, I'm ready." I walk out with the make-up.

"Okay, let me just grab my back pack okay?" she nods. Taylor has on a pink long sleeved shirt and shorts with black converse. Awesome.

I plop the make-up into the pack and zip it up. I grab my boots and zip them up. I lastly take my black jacket and zip it up partly.

"Okay, let's go." I take her hand and we walk to the door.

"I grabbed the matches and candles." She tells. I smile.

"Good job." I open the door. "Taylor, I need you to be strong, there is going to be a lot of dead bodies. Okay? Just try and ignore them. if we run into any bad guys, then you let me take care of it. okay?" she nods. I sigh and we step into the hall.

We walk down and she does exactly as I told her. while walking down, I notice an ax by a fire exit. I take it down and smile. good thing it's not heavy.

After we've gotten past all the floors, we walk out of the hotel. I hear a noise behind me. we spin around to see three of the freaks standing on cars. I quietly swear.

"Okay, Taylor I need you to go hide behind the dumpsters." She nods and runs. I grin and pull up my sleeves.

"So, are you going to come and get me, or are you going to stay there like a bunch of pansies?" one of them roars and launches at me. "Big mistake." I whisper. I swing the ax and it howls. I grin and kick it before swinging it again and cutting of its head. I love axes.

"Too easy. Can you make it harder?" I point the ax at one. It snarls and lunges at me. I roll my eyes. Good thing I had two sisters that liked to toughen me up. I kick it in the stomach and knee it in the face before it falls over. I point the ax at its neck.

"I don't even know what gender you are." It's true. You can't even tell. Its face looks more like a dog then human.

"I'm a girl." It chokes out. I laugh.

"No, I'm a girl. You're a freak of nature." I whisper before cutting its head off.

"Well, that was fun! Now there's only one left." I grin at it. "Come on douche bag, let's end you. your staring is starting to freak me out." It jumps off the car and runs at me.

I grin. I quickly punch it in the face before grabbing its leg and throwing it on the ground. it snarls.

"Bitch please. You have no right to snarl at me." I quickly end as I did the others. I look at my ax and smile.

I just killed three of those freaks. I could get used to this. I wipe the blood on its fur. "Yuck."

I look around until I see the dumpster. "Taylor, come on out honey. They're gone now." I smile as I see her slowly come out.

"Did you kill them?" I nod and she grins and runs into my arms. "All by yourself?" I nod and she frowns. "Be careful Natty, I don't want you getting hurt." I smile and roll my eyes.

"Okay Taylor, let's go." I grab her hand and we walk as I throw the ax over my shoulder.

"Where are we going Natty?" I stop walking and look ahead of us at the highway that has even more abandoned cars.

"We're going to where I live." She looks at me and smiles.

"Okay, it's going to take a while to get there, isn't it?" I smile and nod.

"Sadly yes. But we'll get there." We start to head down the highway.

**(My name is Jill, and I am a line)**

After about 7 hours of walking, we finally stop. We have gotten through about 3 towns altogether. Taylor is exhausted. I just want to get home. But we're in Washington. Oregon is where we're going. So, this is going to be fun.

We stop at another hotel. I've only had to kill a rapid dog, cat, and four freaks. It was pretty easy.

Taylor let's go of my hand and goes behind the desk. She grabs a random set of keys and we head upstairs.

"Natty?" I look at her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you carry me?"

I grin. "Yeah, come here." I grab her put her on my hip. Good thing I took my jacket off hours ago.

"Thank you." she yawns and leans her head on my shoulder. I sigh and smile. God, she must be tired.

I step over all of the dead bodies that are in the hall and look at the key. Room 23. Good thing we're not in Seattle anymore. I reach the door right as I hear something.

I look at Taylor to see her asleep. I smile. That's when I hear a voice. I freeze.

"Zach, we have to get outta here." It's a girl's voice. I swallow.

"No, it's getting dark, we're not leaving. _They'll _be out. We'll leave in the morning." I hear a male voice- I mean Zach-say.

I need to get into this room. I put the key card in slowly. Please don't make a noise. Please don't make a noise. It doesn't listen. It clicks open loudly. Shit.

"Did you hear that? I told you Zach, we gotta go!" this chick seems persistent.

"Haylie, shut up. I wanna hear." I squeeze my eyes closed and step into the room, holding Taylor tighter. The floor creaks. Fuck!

"See, did you hear that?" Haylie needs to shut up.

"Haylie, shut _the fuck _up." he hisses. I flinch as I hear his footsteps. I open my eyes. I need to close the door. _Now._

I slam the door and lock it.

"ZACH!" I hear Haylie scream. I sigh and put Taylor onto the couch. I see a dead body. I roll my eyes and grab the dude's ankles. I throw him into the bathroom and close the door. Gross.

I grab a blanket from of the bed and cover Taylor with it. I go to the bed and go underneath the sheets. I sigh and fall asleep, completely forgetting about the other people in the hotel.


	3. Chapter 3

"NATTY! GET UP!" I shoot upwards in bed. I sigh and smile at Taylor. Then I see that she is already dressed. She has on a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a red shirt.

I groan. "What time is it?" I look at my watch to see it's already 9:43. Shit.

My eyes widen. I quickly get outta bed and I open my bag. I grab a pair of black skinny jeans and a really pretty white strapless top. I go into the bathroom without the body and change. I put my other clothes back and put my hair into a high ponytail. Good thing I have shaved armpits.

After I have on red lipstick, white eye shadow and, black eyeliner, I come out of the bathroom.

"Did you look for dry food?" I ask Taylor. She shakes her head and goes to the kitchen. I grab a granola bar and quickly eat it.

She comes back with some chips and water. She is already eating when she hands me the food. I put it in my pack and put on my boots.

"Okay, let's go." I clip my pack closed and grab my ax. Taylor grabs my hand.

"I found these in the kitchen." She holds up a hand gun and a dagger. I grin and take them from her. Huh. Seems as though the guy before us had some demons. Thank god he did. I check for bullets, to see that there are all of them. Awesome.

"Good job Taylor. But I need to hold onto those until you know how to use them." I slide the gun into the back of my jeans the dagger into my boot.

I grab her hand and we leave the hotel. We get outside. We're about twenty feet away, when I get slammed to the ground.

Taylor screams. "Run!" I yell and I am somewhat satisfied when I hear her little footsteps fading away. I look at my attacker to see an ugly rapid person bitten by a freak.

"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me!" I yell before reaching inside my boot and grabbing my dagger. I stab the person in the side and they roll off me. I smile and stand up.

I pull out the gun and shoot her twice. "Fuck you bitch!" I say, putting the gun back. "Taylor, come on back!" I yell. She pokes her head out from behind a wall and walks towards me.

"Are you okay Natty?" I smile and nod. I put my dagger back into my boot and grab Taylor's hand.

"You ready to go?" she nods. I grin and we walk.

After we get to the outskirts of the town, I know that there is something wrong. I stop walking and listen. A buzzing sound catches my attention. I look towards the sky to see about 12 freaks. My eyes widen. Oh no, oh god. They can _fly_?!

"Taylor." She stops humming and looks at me.

"Yeah?" I try to give her a smile.

"I need to you go hide somewhere. Don't come out until I tell you to, okay?" she frowns.

"Why Natty?" I sigh.

"Because I said so, I need you to stay safe. Now _go._" She pouts buts goes. I grip my ax harder and swing it around a little as they land. They circle me and start snarling.

I'm fucked.

"Well, it looks as though you're all alone. We'll go easy on you, right boys?!" the freak, which seems to be the leader, yells. The others laugh. I grin.

"That'll just make me wanna ripe out your ugly throats even more." I say innocently looking at my nails, even though I know I'm probably not going to get out of this one.

They laugh harder. "Not only a surviving human, but one who thinks to be strong. Man, I thought I'd never live to see the day a human stands up to me." I laugh.

"Our world must be going to shit if you think humans are weak. Now, I'm going to kill you, and it's going to be fun." Before he can respond, I pull out my gun and shoot seven of them, but I realize I don't have any more bullets.

Fuck.

I throw my dagger at one and cut off three heads. I look at the leader. "You're lucky I didn't get any of your fucking goons' blood on my shirt, or I'll eat your head for dinner." I point my ax at him. I reach over to one of the freaks and grab my dagger and put back into my boot. This was easier than I thought.

Before I even know what's happening, he attacks me. My eyes widen and I kick him. It only slows him a little. He scratches my arm and I scream in pain. It starts to sting and burn but I glare at him. I knee him in the stomach and then the face. But he grabs my ponytail and throws me the ground.

"Hair pulling?! Not cool!" I start to scratch his face and he screams before slapping me. I freeze. "Slapping is a _huge _no-no, my friend." I say in a very quiet voice.

He pulls a knife to my throat and I freeze. "Not so tough are you?"

I glare at him and he sighs. "I really wanna kill you, but I could use you… too bad you had to kill my men. Now I have to kill you." he pushes a little harder. My blood runs cold as I feel a drip slide down to my collar bone.

"Fuck you." I spit on him. But right before he is about to slap me, I hear a gun shot and he screams in pain. My eyes widen and I push him off of me. I kick him. I hear a cough behind me. I slowly turn around to see a guy. An attractive guy, with golden hair that come down to his eyes, almost past them, green/gold eyes, and tan skin. He is my age, maybe older. He is holding _my_ gun and has a smirk. I feel myself smirking as well.

"Can I have my gun back?" I say walking up to him. He's taller than me, and I have 5 inch boots on. I cross my arms out and raise my eyebrows.

"I'm thinking about it." I roll my eyes. He has a deep voice it's nice, but I want my fricken gun back! His voice sounds somewhat familiar…

"Give it back, _now._" I say stepping closer to him. He smiles and I try to ignore his looks.

"Can you ask nicely?" he says looking at my gun. I almost slap him.

"Look, that's my gun. You have it. I want it. I don't even know you! Why should ask nicely? I could probably kill you!" I yell, irritated.

He laughs. Now, I'm actually thinking about smacking him. "I don't think so."

I angrily sigh, and right as I'm about to bitch him out, another voice interrupts me. "Zach! What do you want me to do with this?" I quickly turn around as I recognize the other voice of Haylie. And she has Taylor is her grip, _hard. _

My blood starts boiling. "Natty!" she yells and tries to run towards me. Then the bitch holds her back. "Let me go!"

"Let her go, _now._" I say. Zach looks at me and smiles.

"Haylie, bring her here!" he yells to her. She nods and comes over to us.

Haylie is very pretty. She has black hair and blue eyes. Her hair is in a braid and she has on a sweatshirt and blue skinny jeans with converse. She is a lot shorter than me though.

Zach turns towards me. "Now, what are you going to give us for her?"

"How about a black eye and split lip? Oh, or _Zach,_ I could kill you and _Haylie,_ for free." I grin and he smirks.

"Now, how do you know our names?" Haylie asks surprised.

I snort. "You should really check your hotels better." Zach even looks surprised. I nod. "Yeah, it was us last night."

Haylie looks pissed. "It's two against one. I wouldn't advise you to threaten us." I laugh.

"Did you not see me just kill all of those freaks? Yeah, I would advise _you_ to let go of _her_ and just walk _away_." I grab my gun out of Zach's hand, ignoring the warmth I got when our skin touched.

She looks at Zach. "Zach…" she says worriedly. I realize something and turn around to face him.

"Yeah _Zach_, where did you get the extra bullets? You know the one to kill the freak that was about to kill me? Speaking of which, why did you even save me?" I ask and he doesn't say anything.

"Natty, he saved you be nice." I look at Taylor who winks at me. She has a plan. That's my girl! I wink back.

"Taylor these people are mean to me. But I guess if you want me to." I dramatically sigh. That's when she does the move I taught her. It was yesterday while walking.

She stomps on Haylie's foot, and Haylie releases her, surprised. Taylor kicks her then slaps her before running. I grin and duck under both of them and run up to her. I grab my pack from where I took it off while fighting. I slide it on.

Right as I'm about to catch up to Taylor, I'm yanked back by my pack. Zach grins at me. "Let's see just how good you are." He tries to punch me but I grab his arm. Our eyes widen a little at the same tingly warm feeling from before. I use it to my advantage. I throw him to the ground and pin him there.

"Now, if we're done, can I go? I've got places to be." I get up and dust myself. I help him up and nod before walking away.

"Oregon?" I stop walking and turn around to see Zach smiling. "You're going to Oregon, right? Well, so are we, why don't we join each other? I wouldn't want to see you getting a knife to your throat again." I smile.

"If you can catch up, and not slow us down then I don't care." He grins and grab a black back pack, I have never noticed before. Haylie glares at me and holds her red pack tighter while she walks up to us with Zach.

I grab her by the arm and pull her towards me. "Oh yeah, and _never_ grab Taylor like that again. or I will fucking kill you and feed you to rapid dogs. Got it?" I whisper while smiling.

She glares at me and nods.

I grab Taylor's hand and we start walking ahead of them.

"Oh yeah, you're also not allowed to kill us!" I yell.

"Natty why are following us?" I smile and stop walking. I lean towards her level.

"Baby, they need help just like we do. So they're gonna come with us. Is that okay?" she smiles and nods. "Good." I kiss her head and we continue walking.

**Okay, so I would say that if there was a song for this chapter it would be, It's not my time, by Three doors down. Just saying…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! Zach was introduced. Now for some camp side romance…. Just kidding! Or maybe not…**

We stay in the forest. There wasn't another place in site for us to stay. Zach and Haylie had tents on them. I got a tent with Taylor, and the others are sharing the other one. It's late, past eleven. Zach, Haylie and I are the only ones up. Zach and I are going to keep watch until we get tired enough.

"So you know our names, and Taylor's. But what's yours?" I don't think Haylie likes me.

I take a swig of water. "Why don't you try and guess from what you already know?"

She glares at me. I smile, looking at the fire in the middle of us. Zach sits across from me, next to Haylie.

"Well I know Taylor calls you Natty, so it must be Natalie…" I smile but shake my head.

"Close, but no."

"Natalia. Your name is Natalia."

I look at Zach and smile. "Nice job Zach. It's nice to meet you." Our eyes lock as he smiles.

"I'm going to bed." we look at Haylie who is standing. "Goodnight Zach." She looks at me and smirks before kissing Zach, catching him _and _me by surprise. My eyes widen, and then go into slits. I can't help but be a little jealous. I mean, hello! He's gorgeous, and she is throwing their relationship in my face.

Which I didn't even know about, but whatever.

She tries to make the kiss go even deeper than it is, but I splash her a little with my water.

"What the fuck?!" she yells at me. I smirk.

I put my hands up in surrender. "I just wanted to keep it PG is all. You can go on to bed now." she huffs and goes to the tent. I watch her as she glares at me. I wave innocently before she steps inside and zips the tent.

"She never does that by the way. I don't know why she did." Zach explains. I smile.

"I do." I mumble. "It's not any of my business. Just trying to keep it PG for the kid." I smile. He rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah well, I'm gonna have to talk to her about that." We're both quiet for a while, just looking at the fire. "You really love her don't you? Taylor I mean."

I don't look up. "Yeah. I found her the night all this crazy shit started. She was staying at the same hotel as me. I was about to go past her floor and to my room, when I saw her. I don't know, something just took over me. I needed to help. I couldn't just leave her there. I saved her and now I hope someday that she'll do the same for me." I look up and meet his gaze.

"How did you find me?" it seems to catch him by surprise.

"We were walking when we heard you." he looks up and catches my gaze. "It was amazing. I've never seen someone fight the way you did. I _had _to stay and watch. Haylie didn't want me to, but I just _had_ to. When I saw how good you were, I was mesmerized. The way you moved." He shakes his head and smiles before looking back at me again.

"I just knew I needed you." he blushes, realizing what he said. I grin. "I-I mean-"I laugh.

"It's okay Zach. I get it, no need to explain." He just nods.

"But then, I saw that that freak dog thing was about to kill you. I don't know, it was like my gut was telling me to save you. I just saw your gun and grabbed one of the bullets we found and shot. Haylie kept screaming at me not to, but I couldn't stop." I look up and meet his eyes. The fire makes them alive. It seems as though he's not even tired.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't." I say quietly.

"So am I." I smile and look around us. I yawn, feeling a little drowsy.

"I'm gonna go to bed." I stand up and stretch. He stands up and comes up to me. He smiles.

"I think I'm just gonna stay out for a little longer." I nod.

"Are you gonna be okay alone?"

He smirks. I somewhat wish I could kiss him right now. But, you know, that would be bad considering the girlfriend and all.

"Do you really think I'm gonna let something kill us in our sleep. That hurts." He fake puts a hand over his heart. I grin and playfully shove his chest.

"Goodnight Zach." He grins.

"Goodnight Natalia."

I roll my eyes. "Ay, it's Nat to you my friend." he rolls his eyes

"Whatever short stack. Night." I grin and go inside my tent.

**(My name is bill and I'm a line)**

I wake up to yelling. Duh fuck? I see Taylor is already awake. She groans.

"What do you mean you _need _her? You should have to _need _me! Not her!" I roll my eyes at Haylie.

"I thought you were going to bed! All we were doing was talking!" Zach yells back.

What on earth are they- I mentally face palm. They're fighting about me. Me! Of all things. This is ridiculous

"I was until I heard you telling her about how much you need her! _We_ don't need her! I don't even want her here in the first place! The only good one is the kid!" Taylor rolls her eyes. Smart kid.

"We don't need you either!" Ooooooooooooh. "You just complain and run away in a fight! No, you're right. _We_ don't need her. But _I _do. She can fight! You can't! Yes, we don't need you here! But I still want you here! It's not all about you Haylie!"

"She's ruining everything! Don't you see that?! It was just supposed to be you and me! But no! Of fucking course not! You just had to go and save her!" what is her problem?

I look at Taylor. "Stay here." I whisper before slowly opening the tent.

"AY! Haylie, wanna shut the fuck up?! There are people trying to sleep you know!" They both look at me. Then my body. Fuck. I forgot to change out of my shorts and sports bra. Whatever.

"Or, you could have talked to me if you thought there was a problem." I say walking up to her. "Now. What's. The. Problem." I say each word.

Her gaze turns cold. "I don't talk to the likes of you." I humorously laugh.

"Oh did you really just say that?" I smile then it vanishes. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm needed here because I can fight. But I don't want to be here either!" she clenches her fists.

I grin. "I can fight." She states. I laugh. She clenches her fists harder.

"So what, are you going to punch me Haylie? Huh, are you? Because I would actually like to see you do it-"

I'm cut off by her fist hitting my face. Okay, I'm going to have to admit, that actually caught me by surprise.

I smile a mean smile as everyone is quiet. I quickly grab her arm and twist it behind her.

I lean towards her ear. I can hear her heart beating faster. "Now, that was good. But next time, after you punch me, you gotta kick me then you use any weapon to finish me off, got it?" she nods. I let go of her and stand in front of her.

"Again!" I yell.

"Natty! Can I join too?" I look at Taylor and grin.

"Sure."

"Nat, I don't think this is a good idea." I laugh at Zach.

"No! They need to learn!" I look back at them. "We do need you guys. But some fighting skills will help as well." Haylie smiles at me and Taylor nods eagerly.

I look back at Zach. "Go grab my gun, fill it up. Then go to town. Get bacon, eggs. Whatever else we'll need. If you run into trouble, shoot into the air twice. We'll come."

He nods. "If you're not back in three hours, we'll go looking. Go straight." Haylie says. I grin at her.

He grabs my gun and fills it up before heading out.

I turn back to the girls. "Okay Taylor, I want you to stand like this." I grab her and turn her towards Haylie. I bend her knees and have one foot in front of the other. Then I grab her little hands and put them into fists. I raise her right arm and bend it to where she is about to hit someone. Then I do the same with the other one, but a little lower.

"Haylie, stand just like that." She studies Taylor then does the same.

"Now what?"

"Try and hit each other."

Taylor socks Haylie right in the face and I can't help but laugh.

Haylie swings her leg and Taylor lands on her butt. I smile at Haylie.

"Good job Haylie. That's fast thinking."

"So we have to think fast." I help Taylor up.

"There are rules to fighting that everyone knows. 1: Be quick 2: Don't hesitate 3: Know the weak spots 4: Make sure their not gonna be getting back up 5: surprise them 6: Aim low and hard. And in these circumstances, go for the kill." They look at me.

"Do all of these and you'll win you're fights."

"What about weapons?" I grin.

"Later, Taylor. Later." I turn towards them. "Now we just want to learn stances and how to swing, block, and punch."

**(I am a line, and this is just getting stupid…)**

Zach comes back in a little over two hours, as I'm teaching the girls.

Zach smiles at me, and then notices how sweaty all of us girls are. I grin.

"Okay girls, I want you to keep practicing. That means no cheap shots Haylie." I smile.

"Awwwwwww."

"YES!"

I roll my eyes and walk over to Zach. He swallows before looking down.

"I got bacon, eggs, bullets, matches, and some dry food, with water." He keeps looking down.

"Ay!" I smack him upside the head. "Look at me Zach." He does. I smile. "Good job. Now, while I go change, you go cook."

I start to walk away. But then he grabs my arm, making it hot, and I turn around.

"But, what if I don't know how to cook?" he grins. He flicks the hair out of his eyes and I imagine myself running my hands throug- "Natalia?!" I look at him. "I was kidding, go on and change." He smiles and slugs me on the shoulder.

I roll my eyes partly at him, partly at myself. I just met him, how could I possibly think that?

I go inside the tent and put on some red skinny jeans a white tank with a jean jacket, and black combat boots. I pull out a mini mirror and put on green eye shadow with clear lip gloss and black eye liner. I take a brush through my hair and put it into a side fish tail braid. I put my other clothes back and pin my bangs up with a clip. Thank you Terran and your hair OCD-ness!

I walk outside the tent to see Haylie squatting and Taylor running at her at full force.

Wrong move Taylor. I smirk as Haylie whips out her leg and spins, causing Taylor to fly in the hair. I put my hands on my hips as I watch Haylie grabs her leg while in the air. God job Haylie. But, right as she is about to throw her on the ground at full force, Taylor kicks her in the head and grabs Haylie's arms with a twist.

She hits Haylie's weak spot in the shoulder and Haylie goes down with a grunt. I smirk as Taylor hovers over her and grins. Haylie glares but doesn't get up. I clap.

They look at me and both of them grin while Taylor gets up and gives a hand to Haylie. "Girls! You're doing great! You guys are naturals. Taylor nice fast thinking." She grins at me. "Haylie, I liked your technique. That's enough for today though. Go change, you're filthy." They nod and grin.

I go and sit on a log next to Zach who is flipping the bacon.

"They're learning fast." I look down from and sky to him and nod. He smiles. "They're learning to fight. I never thought I would see the day when Haylie would actually hit someone, let alone fight, and win."

I grin. "To bad she didn't win though. Taylor is young, but she has smart thinking for a seven year old."

He smiles and I can't help but nudge him with my shoulder. "Do you know how to fight?"

He smirks. "Course I do. I was taught at about the same age as Taylor. What about you? When did you learn?" he nudges me.

"Since I was about five. That's when I started getting picked on by my sisters. They would always gang up on me. I was always the fastest though." I stare at the fire, remembering. I smile. "I remember this one time, when I was in the sixth grade my older sister Jenn kicked me. It was a joke, but my reflexes kicked in and I grabbed her leg, threw her in the air and slammed her down." he looks at me. "All of her friends were astounded. She was kinda pissed though. She landed on her wrist, almost broke it."

"How much older is she?"

"Two years. She was over 40 pounds larger than me, and was about 5 inches taller. But she has a different dad. She had a larger build." He nods.

"I never had a problem with my siblings." I laugh, but my smile disappears.

"Lucky you." I say quietly. That's when the tears start. Dammit! Now would not be the time. I miss them. I miss how mean and bossy and funny they were. I miss how protective Jenn was. I miss how much of a brat Terran was. I just miss them.

"Hey," he stops cooking and wraps an arm around my shoulders, "what happened to them?" I swipe at my face.

"Um, we were at a concert. Jenn was the first one to go. Her skin started rotting, and we just left her." I sigh and look down. "While we were running, a freak came out and bit my mom and Terran, my little sister. I cried as they turned into rapid, _things._ I just knew they weren't going to be the same. So when Terran was about to attack I grab a piece of metal and hit her with it until I knew she was dead." I wipe at my eyes again.

The words just flow out of my mouth. "My mom attacked and I was knocked down, I had to kill her. So I did. I ran afterwards and found the hotel I was at, then I found Taylor." I shrug and stand up.

Zach grabs me and pulls me into a hug. I smile and seem to match his body perfectly. He pulls away but keeps his arms around my waist. "Hey, on the bright side, foods done." I laugh and he strokes my cheek.

"Natty!?" we pull away quickly and I blush. Duh fuck?! I never blush. Now _he's_ making me blush. Just great. "Can you help me with my laces?" I roll my eyes but smile. I really hope my eyes aren't red.

Zach nudges me, "Yeah Natty, can you help her with her laces?" he grins and I do as well.

This boy is going to be the death of me.

I go inside the tent.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry! I know I haven't posted in a while, but have no fear!**

"So, are we staying another night here?" I swallow the rest of my food and look at Taylor. Then at Zach.

"Um…." We say at the same time.

"Guys…" we look at Haylie. She points in the forest that is starting to become dark with a large shadow. My eyes widen as I look at it.

A bear. There is a fucking _bear_ standing about twelve feet away from us. Oh shit.

Taylor screams. I quickly stand up. I slowly walk over to my ax and grab it. "Taylor, I want you to stay with Haylie, okay?"

"But-"

I turn and look at her. "Go, I'm going to tell you again." she does and Haylie grabs her and takes her into their tent.

"I didn't know there were bears in Washington, well by the highway." Zach sighs and he pulls out a sword. The hilt is red and the sword looks more like a machete than an actual sword.

"Well, you never know-"before I can finish, the bear comes straight at me. I dodge, and miss it _barely_.

Zach slices it and it roars and comes at him. I swing my ax at it and it spins around and swings its arm at me. This time, it doesn't miss. Its claw gets my arm. Right where the freak scratched me. I scream in pain. It starts to swing at me again before I hear a gun shot. Blood spurts out of its eye and it roars.

The only thing is… it lands right on top of me.

My head painfully hits a rock before I go deep into darkness.

**(I am LINE, and you will obey me…. oh, and its three hours later)**

"Do you think she is gonna wake up?" I hear Zach say. Wait Zach? Wha….

"I hope so…" I hear Haylie sigh.

"I shouldn't have shot it." Taylor says. Wait, Taylor… WHAT?!

I don't open my eyes, but I can feel the hard, rocky floor of the forest underneath me. Ouch! Why does my arm hurt like hell?

Wait, we were eating, and then a bear came out… oh shit! I internally groan.

"No, it was good you killed it. She's gonna be pretty pissed you did that though…" Zach continues. I think I can hear his voice above me. Something shifts underneath me. oh wait, my head is on his lap. That makes so much more sense now.

"God is she gonna get up?!" Haylie suddenly yells. Ouch, my brain!

"Maybe if you would stop yelling she would!" I yell and open my eyes. I see three faces looking down at me. I groan and sit up. A little too fast, because I have to hold my head.

"Sorry." She blushes. I close my eyes and quickly open them to blink repeatedly. My eyes focus on my surroundings, to see that it is already almost dark and the fire is still going.

"It's fine. How long have I been out?" I ask slowly standing up. My arm suddenly starts to sting and I look down at it, to see my jacket missing. The scratches are covered with a large white bandage.

Everyone eyes stands. "For over three hours." Zach answers me. I look at him.

"Okay then…" I rub the back off my head and I feel that my braid is gone. I look at the girls.

"Um, your head was bleeding." Zach says touching the side of my head and face. I follow his hand to feel another bandage, and the goose bumps I got when his hand touched my face.

I groan. "Just great!" ugh. "I can't believe it fell on _top_ of me." I sigh.

Taylor shifts uncomfortably. "Well, I might have shot it… he-he."

I stop touching the bandage and look at her. "You _what_?!"

"She killed it." Zach says louder. I roll my eyes.

"No, I heard her; I just don't understand why she did it."

"She saved you… it was a pretty good shot too."

I look at Taylor, about to yell at how stupid and dangerous it was. But, then I saw her. Actually _saw_ her. Somehow, I don't know how, she grew up. She's brave now. She killed a fucking bear, for me. Me of all people. She saved my life.

I grab her and kneel to her level. I smile. "Thank you Taylor. What you did was brave, stupid, but brave. And if you didn't do it, then I probably wouldn't be here. But you do it again, and I'm gonna beat your ass into next week." I hug her and she grins in my hair.

"Wow Nat, that was surprising." Taylor lets go of me and I glare at Haylie.

"Yeah, that was a very non- Nat thing to do." Zach grins and I playfully shove him.

"Yeah, yeah. So fricken funny. Now, can we go?"

Haylie frowns.

"What? We're leaving? But it's already dark."

I suppress an eye roll.

"She's right Natty; you told me that we don't move in the dark."

Dammit. I should really think before I say things to this child.

"Well, I think that we should leave, you know, before any more wild animals come out to try to eat us." I give them a look.

"It's not that dark yet, let's get going." Zach nods at me. I give him a grateful smile. Thank god he's on board.

I pack all my stuff and help Taylor with hers. Zach and Haylie take the tents and I grab my ax.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that anyways?" I ask Taylor, while we start walking.

She grins at me. "I don't know. I just closed my eyes and shot." My eyes bulge out of my head.

"But, you could've hit me!"

"Well, good thing she has good aim." We look at Haylie.

I nod and my gaze travels to Zach. His face looks serious, but he is limping. He must have gotten hurt with that fucking bear. Remind me to ask him about that later.

"There's a town that should be coming up soon." I shake my thoughts away and nod.

Sure enough, we do end up in a small town that looks to be a ghost town. I look around and it starts to get windy. I really hope it doesn't start raining on us tomorrow or it's gonna suck to walk in it.

"Are there any motels?" I ask Zach. He nods and we follow him. You can barely notice his limp. I don't think the others can see it. But I can.

We arrive at a hotel that looks like it's one a hooker would go to, to get some money.

I kick down the door and we get inside. There are two beds and a couch.

Haylie throws her stuff down.

"Night." I chuckle and take out the candles and matches. I light three of them while Taylor goes and changes.

She comes out in her pj's and I smile.

"Good night Natty." I tuck her in.

"Good night honey." I kiss her forehead and she closes her eyes.

"Well," Haylie slides in next to Taylor, "it's been a long, interesting day. Good night Nat." I nod and blow out a candle on the night stand.

Wait, there bed is closest to the door and there's only one bed left. Just wonderful. Yet, I'm kind of happy. Whatever.

Zach comes out of the bathroom in a white V-neck and black sweatpants. I go in and change. I put on a red tank and grey shorts. I put my hair into a high pony tail and come out of the bathroom. Zach is sitting on the floor by the empty bed.

"Let's see it." I whisper and plop down next to him.

"What?"

I roll my eyes. "You were limping. Let's see your leg."

He sighs. "It's not my leg."

He surprises me by pulling up his shirt. Good thing he can't see me blush in the dark. He has abs. 'nough said. But what is catching my attention is the claw mark on the side off his torso. I look at him and reach my hand out to look at it.

"I'm sorry Zach. You should have said something." I grab my bag and open it up. I grab the first aid kit and set my bag down.

He looks at me and grins. "You know, a lot of girls would love to be in this position." He lies down and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I pour some water on a napkin and dap it with it. He flinches at first and I smirk. He smirks back and puts his hands behind his head.

"So Zach, why are you going to Oregon?" I pull out some hydrogen peroxide and a large bandage.

He sighs and I look at him before pouring some of it on the scratches.

"My grandpa lived in Salem." I meet his eyes. "He's probably dead, but I loved his house, and Salem is pretty big. There could be some more food there." he shrugs. I nod and pull the wrappers off the bandage.

"You?" I look at him. The candle on the table next to us makes it seem as though he is golden. His hair is all disheveled. His eyes are greener right now. He looks beautiful. I wish I could get someone like that.

I quickly look away to the ground a couple feet away from us that seems much more interesting. "Um, I live in McMinnville. So, I thought that I could go back there…" I trail off and shrug.

"Do you think anyone else in your family is alive?" I put the bandage on him. He sits up, but doesn't put his shirt back on. I sigh and lean against the bed.

"I really hope so." Shrug. "But, I don't know. There is my dad and grandma that live there. So…" another shrug.

"What about Taylor?"

I look at him. "She's gonna stay with me… unless she wants to go with you guys."

He smiles. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's gonna wanna stay with you." He meets my eyes. "She loves you Nat." I laugh quietly.

"Yeah, doubt it. There's nothing about me to love. I don't even think my mom and dad loved me as much as my sisters. I was the different one. The weak one. But, now I have Taylor. Love comes from the heart, she loved her parents. She probably just likes me enough so I can take care of her." I don't meet his eyes, afraid of what I'm going to see.

"No," I do meet his eyes, he looks completely serious, "I see that look in her eyes. That look of adoration. She loves you; she wants to be like you."

I shake my head, not wanting to get into this right now. "Good night Zach."

I stand up. He grabs my wrist and stands up. I look at him. He sighs and let's go of my wrist.

"Never mind, good night."


	6. Chapter 6

"Natty… wake up!" I groan and sit up to see Taylor awake, but the others still asleep.

Zach looks so peaceful… Haylie looks like a fucking monster. I suppress a laugh as she snores.

"Why on earth did you wake me up?"

"I heard a noise."

I immediately sit up. Looks like Zach decided to take the couch. Good choice.

"What kind of noise?" I throw the blankets back and step out of bed.

"It was like a buzzing sound." I look at her.

"Okay, where did you hear it?"

She walks to the window. I follow her to it. As I get closer, I can hear a buzzing sound. I look down to see a bee. Really?

"Taylor! It's just a bee!" I whisper yell. She nods.

"I'm allergic to bees." I open the window and it flies out.

"Don't worry; my little sister was allergic to them also. I'll know what to do." I pat her little head and close the window.

I look at the time to see that's its only six a.m. I scowl and go back into bed.

"Can I sleep with you?" I smile at Taylor and nod.

She slides into the bed beside me and snuggles closer to me. I smile.

"I love you Natty." She whispers before falling asleep.

I have to fight off tears. Zach was right, she does love me.

"I love you too Taylor." I say.

I swear I saw Zach smile before I fell asleep.

…

"I told you." I roll my eyes at Zach, as I pull back the covers over my face. The girls decided to go look for some food.

"You know, sometimes I just wanna punch you in the face."

I just know he's grinning. "It comes with the package."

I snort. "Yup, you're one mighty package." I throw the covers off me and sit up. I blow the hair out of my eyes and look at Zach as he leans against a dresser.

"Why were you even listening in the first place? I thought you were, oh I don't know, sleeping?" I raise a shoulder and step out of bed.

"I was, until I heard people moving. So I kept my eyes close but my ears open. Then I heard what Taylor said." He grins again. "I told you she loves you."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. What's your point?" I grab my pack.

"That I was right." He sits on the bed.

I look at him.

"So what, did you want me get on my knees and plead to you to forgive me for being wrong?" I pull out some blue skinny jeans and a red lacy strapless top. Then I grab the makeup.

He frowns. "No, just a parade will do."

I laugh. "The marching band will be filled with freaks. Rapid people can be on the floats, you know, eating each other?" I give him a look.

"That's all I'm asking." I bite my lip to hold back a smile. He smiles and we're both quiet.

"Well, you were right." I touch his shoulder and give him a serious look before laughing.

"See, that didn't hurt a bit, did it?"

I grin and walk to the bathroom. I put the clothes and makeup on the counter and lean on the railing.

"No, I think it killed Me." he grins and I slam the door. I change into the clothes and put on some makeup.

I grab the razor that was in the bag and shave my armpits.

I leave my hair down and walk out of the bathroom.

"Natty, you're awake!" I smile at Taylor, who is holding bread in her hands and crackers.

"Yup. So, we ready to go?" I zip up my heeled boots and put the stuff in my back. I clip it closed and look at the others.

"Yeah." Haylie says and I notice she has cereal and chips.

"Hey Nat?"

I look at Zach.

"Yeah?"

"What day is it today?" I frown.

Then I remember. "Oh wait!" I pull out Terran's iPod and turn it on. Still full battery.

"It's the 19th of Jul-"I drop the iPod.

Oh my god. I completely forgot.

My legs fall to the floor.

"NAT?! Are you okay?" Zach kneels in front of me. I scowl and look at the ground.

How could I forget? If mom and the girls were here they would be pissed I forgot.

"How could I possibly forget?" I murmur.

"Forget what? What could you have possibly forgotten what Nat?" I just shake my head.

"Guys, I think I know what it is…" Haylie looks at me then back at the iPod where Terran had an event posted.

I swallow and nod my head at her.

"Happy 16th birthday Nat." Everyone looks at me with wide eyes.

"Happy birthday Natty!" Taylor giggles and throws her arms around me. I pat her back.

I take a deep breath and stand. I know Zach is looking at me. I don't look at him.

"Yup, it's my birthday! Now, can we go?" they nod and we start walking out.

Zach hasn't been limping. So, I guess that's good.

"You forgot didn't you?" he falls into step with me behind the group.

"Yeah. My family would be pretty pissed if they knew I forgot about my birthday." I shrug and we keep walking.

"Oh my god, you guys look at this!" we look at each other before running to where we heard Haylie's voice.

Please don't be a bear. Please don't be a bear.

We get there to see a really nice Camaro. I grin. "Hey, my mom used to have one of these." I look at everyone. "They're really nice. Easy to drive too, except my mom's was black, not red. She always wanted a red one."

"Hey Zach, if the keys are there, you should drive it. It would save us a lot of time." Haylie grins.

"It probably doesn't have any gas." He says, but he shrugs. "I'll check. He opens the door to see keys on the seat. "What the…" he puts the keys into the ignition and turns it on. It roars with life. My eyes widen.

"How much gas?" I ask walking up to the car. I put my hand on the top. I love cars so much. He points to the gas mileage, to see a full tank. Well then. "Do you think it's safe to drive?" he comes out and I lean on the hood.

"I could pop the hood and find out." He shrugs and my eyes pop out of my head.

"You know cars?"

He grins. "Yeah, I love cars."

He just got so much hotter. Dammit!

"But I think it's fine. Do you want to use it?" I shake my thoughts off.

"Hell yes I do! But um, you drive." He rolls his eyes.

"So we're gonna use it?" Haylie says. I nod. Taylor jumps up and down and I laugh.

"Shot gun!" I yell. Everyone laughs. I frown at them. "What?" I ask and lift a shoulder.

"Nothing, you're just really childish." I grin at Haylie. "Well, let's put our stuff in the truck." She says. I nod and Zach pushes the button and the truck pops open. I look in it to see a small sword and another gun with 2 boxes of bullets. Who owned this car?

"Sweet!" I say. "Okay, Haylie gets the sword, Taylor gun. Grab them and the bullets." They nod and grab them. After we have our stuff in the trunk, for the exception of some food, water, iPod and weapons, we get into the car. I also grabbed the iPod plug thingy that charges it and connects to the car. Jenn had it.

I plug it in and put on some music.

"I haven't heard music in such a long time." I nod and lean my head on the seat.

"We're gonna get to Salem so much faster now." I nod again.

After we have been driving for a couple of hours, we arrive in Oregon.

"Why do you think this happened?" I whisper. The girls are asleep.

"I don't know. But you know the bird kids?" I look at him and nod.

I haven't about them in a while. They were heard to be in New York, kids with wings.

"Well, I was told by someone that their alive. That they're the only ones that were supposed to survive through this. That they're on an island somewhere. Just living, knowing that the human race was killed off. I also heard that one of them was supposed to save the world. Too bad she didn't." I gape at him.

So, there was supposed to be someone to save to planet, someone chosen to do it, and they didn't. They were too busy to even do that?! And it was a her too! I can't believe that! That just pisses me off.

"Yeah, well that makes me very angry. Do you know which one was supposed to do it?" it was said that there were six of them. Three boys and three girls. But then someone on the news said that they spotted another boy, so I guess there's seven?

"Yeah, the oldest girl. Someone said her name is Max or something…" now I remember… she is the one with the light brown hair and brown and white wings. If I meet her, I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!

"Well Max is stupid. I'm gonna go to sleep though." I shift around a little. "Shit." I say.

"What?"

"I have to pee." He rolls his eyes. Even though it's dark, I can still tell.

"Then go outside and find a spot." I glare at him.

"Fine then." I grab the iPod and unbuckle myself. I almost step on the gun. I roll my eyes at it and put it in the back of my jeans. I open the door to meet cold air. Shit, it's raining. I forgot it started raining earlier.

I run into the dark with the iPod as my light. I find a spot in a little foresty area. I go and right as I'm done, the light goes out. Fuck. I put it in my pocket and slowly walk forward, not sure which direction I came in. shit, why is it so dark? I look for the outline of the car, but I just see darkness and rain. Not even the streetlamps are working.

"Zach!" I yell quietly, hoping he heard me. He didn't. Dammit! I start to shiver and my hair is getting soaked. Just wonderful.

I start to walk a little more before I hear something growl behind me. I freeze and turn around.

"Hello? Whatever the hell is making that noise, can you shut up? I'm trying to find something." I start to walk again before I hear the growl again. Though this time, it's closer to me.

"Dude, shut the fuck-"

I stop because I'm shoved into a wall, with a claw to my throat.

Oh fuck.

I scream. It smiles at me through the rain. The freak's dog fur smells disgusting wet. I scream again. Come on Zach, what the hell?! I grab it's shoulder and knee it where the sun don't shine. Then I punch it and run. Only to nr thrown onto the ground and dragged by my ankles.

"ZACH!" I scream. I start kicking but it doesn't waver. I really hate these things.

"Nat?" I scream again and it starts to lift me upside down. Not as fun as you would think. "NAT?!" I hear him coming closer.

"Over here!" I yell. It elbows me in the stomach. I glare at it.

"Nat- whoa, let her down!" I roll my eyes, pissed. Then I remember that one, he can't see me, and two, I have the gun.

I grab it and shoot him in the head before falling onto the ground, _hard_. The breath gets knocked out of me. I groan and sit up. "Thanks for the help there buddy!" I yell and stand up. It rains even harder, and I now regret wearing a strapless shirt.

"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you."

"Yeah well, the iPod died out on me, so I had to find my way." I yell at him and push past him. I shouldn't be this much of a bitch to him, but I can't help it. I get it from my mother. Plus, I'm freezing and tired.

I start walking in a random direction. I stop walking, feeling extremely embarrassed. "Zach, where's the car?" I ask quietly. He laughs and walks up to me. He laughs. Off all things, that is probably the number one thing to not do right now.

"It's not funny. So stop laughing." he laughs even harder. "Stop okay! God I know that everything I say is sooo hilarious! Okay, I get it! No one can ever take me seriously! But I'm cold and I'm tired! I thought that you of all people would take me more seriously." I stop walking and he stops laughing. I can somewhat see him now. It has stopped raining a little.

"Okay, I won't laugh anymore. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you come out here alone." I sigh and attempt to run a hand through my wet hair.

"No, I'm sorry. I just… I don't wanna lose you guys. That's why I'm freaking out." I say. He smiles and grabs my waist.

"You're not gonna lose us Natalia."

Before I can reply he pushes his lips against mine. I feel heat coming from us. I kiss him back and close my eyes. He puts his hands on my hips. I wrap my arms around his neck and he wraps my legs around his waist. He smiles against my lips and pushes me against a wall. I tangle my hands in his hair as he kisses my neck. Heat going wherever he kisses my skin.

I have never kissed a guy before. I can't believe that I've missed out on it.

He makes his way back to my lip and he slips his tongue into my mouth. I moan into his mouth and he smiles again. I grab his shirt and pull him closer to me. He pushes his hands on my hips a little harder and I moan again. I bit his lower lip and he groans, causing me to smile.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this." He says, whiling kissing my jaw. I smile.

"I know. I thought that you didn't like me though." He grins and starts sucking on my neck. I run my hands through his hair.

"I really, _really _like you." he says, sucking harder. I shiver and he comes back to my lips.

Then realization hits me. _Hard._ "Zach stop." He freezes and pulls away. "Haylie." I whisper. I close my eyes and hit my head against his chest. "Oh shit, Haylie, how could I have done this to Haylie…?" I whisper. He sets me down and I walk away from him. I go back to the car and sit inside it.

I look back to see the girls still asleep.

I sigh and lean back into the seat.

What have I gotten myself into?


	7. Chapter 7

"So… what's up guys?" I just shrug.

I haven't talked to Zach alone, or even looked at him since last night. We've stopped talking, altogether. It's pretty awkward having Haylie talk to us.

"Um, can I play a game on the iPod?" Taylor asked. I nod and reach for it. Right as Zach does as well. Our hands touch and I instantly pull back. He does the same. Crap.

I reach for it again and unplug it quickly before handing it to Taylor. Awkward.

It hasn't stopped raining since last night, so we haven't been able to get very far. It's actually raining harder.

I hear thunder and Zach pulls over. "What's wrong? Why did we pull over?" I step out of the car and Haylie comes out after me. Zach and Taylor do the same.

The rain comes down hard like hail. Everything is getting soaked; I can just tell that there is going to be a flood or something.

We look ahead to see lightening coming downing on Portland. Just wonderful. "That's why." I nod in the direction of the lightening.

"Do you think we should continue?" I don't answer Haylie. It starts to pour down rain. I put my hand out and frown at the sky. It's not even dark yet.

"Maybe would should try to find shelter?" I nod at Zach's idea and start to walk to the car.

"Hey!" I freeze and turn around at the unfamiliar voice. A little old man walks up to me and takes my hand. I don't move it, but look curiously at him. "I'm sorry, I must have over heard you, but if you are looking for shelter, you can stay at my house."

I look at Zach for the first time. The rain makes his hair look so much darker and longer, his eyes look more gold right now. He nods slowly then I look back at the old man, who I tower over by several inches. "That would be great." I say and he smiles, showing really white teeth. Huh, I would've never thought. I didn't even notice him.

"Okay, well just follow me in my truck and we'll get you situated." I nod.

We get into the car and follow him in his little beat up blue truck. Though, when we get to his house, I'm a little amazed. It's a mansion. He opens the large rusty gates and we drive in after him.

"Does anyone else think this is a little creepy?" I shake my head, still looking at the large brick house in front of us.

It looks more like a medieval castle than a house. I like it. But a house like this in Portland? Not likely. I would think that a house like this would cost a lot of money and would be more found in Europe than in boring old Oregon. It's probably rare to find a house like this here. But, it's worth it. If I could, I would take a house like this. But, instead I live in a house that only has one story and three bedrooms. It's a whatever thing. I still love my house no matter what thought.

Zach parks the car and I hop out and grab all of my stuff. "Natty how long are we going to be staying here?" Taylor holds my hand. I look down at her.

"I don't know baby, I really don't know."

She nods and we walk into the large house.

….

Turns out that Frank (the old guy) has power and hot water, because of forty-eight power boxes. I haven't taken a bath since the day before all of this crazy shit started. All I want to do is relax and not have to kill something or have to tell people what to do, or kiss someone who is in other relationship- Deep breaths. That's what I need, deep breaths.

I take one and slide down lower into the tub. I put my hair into a messy bun, so it wouldn't get wet. It feels sooo good to finally bathe. I reach for the faucet and turn it on. I grab the bubbles and add more in, that way it goes to my shoulders while I lay. I turn off the faucet and lean my head against the tub with a sigh; I close my eyes.

Taylor is watching movies with Frank. What would she think about what I did? Nothing, because she isn't going to find out about it. Why did I enjoy it so much? It was one kiss. But it feels as though it was more than that. I mean, we really, _really_ kissed. I don't know what would've happened if I hadn't stopped.

A knock on the bathroom door causes me to open my eyes and sit up.

"Nat, it's me. Can we talk?" I sigh with relief, it's Haylie. "I haven't talked to someone my age in a while, or well, a girl." She laughs, which causes me to smile.

"Yeah, come on in." I holler, and she opens the door. Thank god the bubbles cover me.

She comes in, looking clean and happy. She sits down on a stool and smiles at me to my left. I grin and resume the position I was in before she came in.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?"

"Um, well, I. I, uh, wanted to ask you about what's going on between you and Zach."

My eyes shoot open and I involuntarily flinch. "What do you mean?" I sit up. God, if she finds out-

"Well, you guys haven't been talking and I was just curious-"

"We got into an argument last night after you guys went to sleep. We'll probably get over it soon though." I give her a reassuring smile.

She smiles back. "Oh okay. Well, I hope so. We're going to be here for a while."

I frown. "What are you talking about?"

She doesn't look at me. "Well Frank told me that the storm is getting worse. He thinks that it is going to continue for a couple more days, so we're going to have to stay here."

"Why couldn't we just leave in the morning?" I raise a brow and sit up straighter.

"Maybe because the roads are flooded…" my eyes widen.

"_What?!" _she nods and I groan and hit my head against the tub. I did not want to stay a couple more days with Zach, alone, in a huge house. Just fucking wonderful.

"How long?" I ask her.

"At most a week." I groan again.

She smiles. "Well, it was nice talking to you for a little bit." I nod. It was little nice. "I'm gonna go though. There's a sandwich calling my name."

I laugh. "Bye Haylie, I'll see you later." She nods and walks over to the door. I take down my hair.

"And Nat?" I look at her. "Thank you, for everything." I smile softly at her and she leaves. I go underwater just as she closes the door.

I come out after shaving my legs and armpits. I grab the silk robe thing that Frank gave me to wear. No towel, of course. I put it on, the sleeves come out at the ends and it has a deep v to it, to silk sticks to me and it looks as though there is a slit running up the middle. I pull the plug on the tub. I walk over to the mirror after I have my clothes. I'm about to walk past it, when I notice something.

"Really?" I pull my hair off my neck and groan. The mark is on the right side of my neck. It's purple and blue, and noticeable. And it's from the kiss. I was hoping that my first hickey was going to be from my first boyfriend. Not a guy that has a girlfriend during the apocalypse. But, we can't always get what we want. Good thing Haylie didn't see it, or else that would be really bad and would have probably not end well.

I walk out of the bathroom and throw my clothes on the bed. We each got a room. I've never had a room to myself before.

With my back to the door, I start to open my pack. Another knock causes me to smile. Haylie must wanna talk again. "Come in." I say. I put my pack on the bed. "Coming back to talk again?" I smile.

"Actually yes." I freeze.

"Zach, what are you doing here?" I turn around and his eyes rake my body. He looks back at me with the same eyes he had when we kissed. Lustful.

He smiles and I try not to melt. No, I'm supposed to not talk to him. "I came here to talk to you." he says. Well, we're just opposites today, aren't we?

"Well, there's nothing to talk about." I walk over to the mirror in the room, and start to brush my hair. He walks behind me and takes the bold move off wrapping his arms around my waist. I tense. Don't beat the living shit out of him and don't make out with him again, are the thoughts running through my head.

I keep brushing my hair and ignore the warmth I get from his touch and the butterflies in my stomach. "Yes there is, and you know it." I laugh humorlessly.

"And what would there be to talk about?" I put the brush down and look into his eyes in the mirror for the first time in a couple of hours. He grins at me.

"You know what."

"No, I really don't."

"Yes, you really do."

"Well too bad I have no idea what you're talking about." He pauses before smiling mischievously.

"Am I making you uncomfortable Nat?" I roll my eyes.

"No you're not." yes he is.

"I think you're lying." He smirks. I smirk back.

"I think you're getting off topic." He grins.

"You are right. I came here to talk to you about last night." I tense again, and my gaze leaves his and moves to the floor.

"What about last night?" he laughs and his chest rumbles against my back.

"That really heated kiss that we shared last night, know you the one that was in the rain after you yelled at me." I can feel his grin. I tense again and meet his eyes.

"Never happened." I say and try not to sound stupid. I think that's already too late though.

He smiles and leans close to my neck, causing my heart to race. His fingers gently graze my neck, giving me goose bumps as he moves the hair off my neck. I look over my shoulder at him. Why is he doing this-he's with Haylie. This is so not fair.

"Then what's this?" he whispers before kissing the hickey. I shiver involuntarily and he nips at it.

"Zach, stop." I say, trying my best to have control.

"Mmmmh…" he hums into my neck as his arms tighten around me. He starts to put open mouth butterfly kisses on my neck.

"Zach…. Stop…" I try not to lean into his touch. It's extremely difficult.

"No, I don't think I will." I can feel him smile as he starts to suck on the skin on my jugular. I close my eyes and lean into his touch. I wrap my arms around his head and pull him closer. God, the things this guy does to me.

I moan and he turns me around. His lips meet mine, hard and powerful. I start to run my hands through his hair. His tongue flicks my lower lip and I open my mouth wider. He enters and grips my hip harder. We should probably stop, but I kind of don't want to.

But the sad realization of me still being naked hits me. I pull away and groan.

"Dammit Zach!" I blush and walk past him to my pack on the ground.

"What did I do?" he sits on the bed. I look at him to see ruffled hair, red cheeks, and swollen lips.

"You kiss-"I lower my voice. "You kissed me. That's what you did."

He grins. "Don't act like you didn't like it."

Don't kill him. Don't kill him. Don't kill him. I just glare.

He frowns. "You did like it didn't you?" is he serious?

I shrug and look through my clothes. "Could've been better." I mumble and bite back a smile as I hear him gasp.

"Oh I'll give you a kiss that will _love._" I roll my eyes.

"Just the thought of you getting worked up about this is hilarious." I smirk and grab the only dress I brought and grab my underwear and bra.

He grins at me. "Are you going to dress in front of me?"

I grin back. "No, you're gonna get out before I beat the living shit out of you." my smile vanishes. "Now, get out."

He holds his hands up in surrender. "Okay, jeez. Oh yeah, and good talk. I really enjoyed the conversation we had-"I slam the door.

Okay, now time to get dressed.


End file.
